Expectations

For those of you who know about me, you know that I love the sea.

Every year I look forward to going back on the ocean to participate in the Dungeness Crab fishery. This year however, there is a delay in the season due to the high levels of domoic acid in the crab. This is being caused by the El Nino and a very large coinciding algal bloom along the West Coast of the U.S.

This is going to affect the lives of many fishing families and many of the other industries that rely on the crab season.

For me it is disappointing in the sense that I will have to wait or potentially pass on the crab season depending on the outcome. For the others that rely on this industry for their income, it can bring on much anxiety and possible financial ruin.

Life will sometimes throw you curveballs. When things don’t go the way that you want or how you plan them, you can possibly be setting yourself up for a big disappointment. So how do we avoid these huge emotional swings in our lives?

Most people will find themselves in the midst of what I call a “crazy eight pattern”. The human nervous system will do what it is supposed to, seek certainty, perhaps masked in the form of making drastic decisions or choices. Whenever you are setting your expectations high, you hope to see great things happen in your life. This is understandable. The difference is in when they do not happen the way that you had hoped, you can go from excitability to depression, sadness and even further down the ladder of negative emotions. This may lead to food, alcohol or drug abuse. This is also when people are inclined to take their anger out on those around them.

The problem is this. Most people hope that things will turn out the way they expect them to. Hope can also let you down. Hope is a beggar. We need to have faith! Not necessarily in a religious context, but faith that things will sometimes happen for a reason that is beyond our power.

Having faith in something bigger than yourself can power you through the worst situation in your life. However with faith and Heartfelt Intelligence you can make the choices more often knowing that it is not just blind faith moving you forward, but core common sense and certainty. It will allow you to see beyond the worldly problems that we are all faced with. In order to get out of the crazy eight pattern, It comes down to the reinterpreting the meaning that you give to the events in your lives. You need to know that things will work out and that everything is temporary.

Whether you are dealing with financial matters, relationship issues or health issues, you must stay the course. As Mark Twain once said… “I have had more problems than most men in the world, good thing for me most of them never came true.” This too shall pass.

The crab season will go on, I will go back to sea at some point in time. I will once again set my expectations to a level that is realistic. We will be provided for and things will always improve if there is a focus of faith in the fact that we are human beings and that we are all blessed with choice, faith and Heartfelt Intelligence.